HISTORY of DALLAS BALLET COMPANY

Formerly City Dance Theatre, Dallas Ballet Company (DBCo) is a non-profit entity organized in 1989 to operate a dance company for the pre-professional dancer. Funding for this venture has been provided by the Dallas Ballet Company Guild Patrons who have raised money through memberships, advertising, boutique sales, and raffles. In addition to receipts from ticket sales, the Company has applied for and received funding in past years from the Garland Cultural Arts Commission, TACA, and the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs.

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Company members are selected annually in open auditions for pre-professional dancers (age 14+).  There are also performing opportunities for DBCo Apprentices (age 13+), Trainees (age 12+), and Junior Company members (age 12+).  The Company’s mission is (1) to provide the pre-professional dance student the opportunity to perform in productions incorporating quality production values (e.g. sets, costumes, lighting); (2) to involve interested individual volunteers in the creative process of building sets, painting backdrops, and sewing costumes; and (3) to produce affordable performances of classical ballets in order to broaden the dance audience. The Guild also provides scholarship opportunities to enable Company members to continue their dance education.

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The Company has produced the Nutcracker each year since its inception. Company members have participated in performances of Swan Lake, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, La Fille mal Gardee, Raymonda, Le Corsaire, and Don Quixote. Excerpts from these ballets have been performed in Irving, Tyler, and Greenville, Texas, as well as Durant, Oklahoma. The Company is invited to perform at many other events such as the Dallas Morning News Dance Festival, Dance for the Planet, and lecture demonstrations for elementary schools and retirement homes throughout the year.

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Additionally, in 2001 and 2002, DBCo presented Bravo!Ballet, a cultural event for the city of Dallas with guest artists from New York City Ballet. Dallas Ballet Company has applied to the IRS and obtained status as a Section 501(c)(3) organization; contributions to it are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Dallas Ballet Company is not affiliated with any other organization and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, or sex.